What kind of achievement is it to chop 100 potatoes in one day?! This is just basic diligence. Wouldn’t the advanced level be exhausting to death?
But, that was K-Fried Chicken. K-Fried Chicken, which she had eaten more than once during her student days, had become a rare familiar presence in this foreign country. Although she knew that Manager Wang was still there, this strange yet intimate name of the menu still made Si Li click on the system panel as if in a dream.
Between the empty star and one star recipes, a half star recipe suddenly appeared. A gray "unlearned" mark was printed on the recipe image, and the moment Si Li clicked it, her eyes were attracted by the pop-up video.
Unlike the video tutorial for the salad, the chef is still the same this time, but the conditions are obviously not as good. The cutting board and spice jars are old and worn out. The explanation starts with "Milk, butter, black pepper and oyster sauce are out of stock."
The mashed potatoes and pears with only sugar and soy sauce were almost the same ingredients on hand at the moment. She changed her approach of steaming the potatoes directly in a pan to save time so that Steward Wang could taste them. She followed the woman and calmly sliced and chopped the potatoes.
Soy sauce is poured on the mashed potatoes that have been mixed with sugar and squeezed repeatedly. The light reddish-brown color looks like a layer of sugar shell on the mashed potatoes. At first glance, the appearance is very similar to that sold by K-Commerce.
[System: Ding Dong, a bowl of crudely made but miraculously successful K-bean mashed potatoes (fake) has been completed, achievement point +1.]
Si Li and the woman stopped almost at the same time. After putting the food on the plate, the video did not stop. Si Li trembled a little when she heard the woman's calm and cold voice. She scooped up a spoonful of mashed potatoes, and her smiling voice was particularly clear to Si Li's ears for some reason, "It's delicious."
The woman in the video was clearly smiling, but Si Li's nose felt sore. Through the system panel, she suddenly wanted to meet this chef. The woman's clothes in the video were similar to the style Si Li saw in Ning Dynasty. Perhaps only people who are also time travelers can understand the urge of homesickness in this strange time and space.
The video pop-up window disappeared, and two optional videos and a note about the recipe appeared on the mashed potato recipe. One of the videos was an empty-star video showing "Learned", and the other was a one-star video that still showed "Unlearned". I think the half-star of this dish is because there are two ways to cook it. How the same dish can go from empty-star to one-star is very meaningful for Si Li, who can only guarantee that the empty-star cold cucumber salad will not go wrong.
If she could understand the secrets, she would have the confidence to try the three new one-star recipes. But Si Li did not open the one-star tutorial video at this time, but stared at the system annotations in a daze.
[K-Ke Mashed Potatoes (Fake): This is a snack that ██ used to eat after cutting 100 potatoes a day. The weird name has never been changed at ██'s insistence. It is labeled fake because the cooking method is different from the original, but the taste is sweet and rich, and it is deeply loved by children. It was one of the most delicious foods in ██'s childhood memories. Empty star This dish can increase satiety by 10% within 15 minutes after consumption. One star This dish can increase child affinity by 10% within 15 minutes after consumption.
Tip: Since the host's current cooking skill level is too low, the possibility of the maker's negative emotions being aroused will increase by 30% during the preparation of this dish. Please proceed with caution. 】
Three places in the annotations of the recipe on the system panel were crossed out, and Si Li was vaguely concerned.
"Miss? It's not burned, is it?"
The concerned voice interrupted Si Li's thoughts. Steward Wang pressed her hand and put down the bowl, and asked worriedly, "Are you dizzy?"
Si Li shook her head, glanced at Xiao Que who was standing behind Steward Wang, eager to try with an empty bowl in her hand, and handed the bowl to Steward Wang, "Steward, take a taste."
A bowl of mashed potatoes was made in small quantities, a lump of it solidified in the bowl and soaked in deep amber sauce, reflecting the slanting sunlight outside the window. At first glance, it looked like the exquisite pastries and desserts displayed in a pastry shop in Beijing, and had nothing to do with the cheap crops that were used to fill hunger.
With the trust gained from the cold cucumber salad, Steward Wang scooped a spoonful into his mouth and was immediately surprised, "I thought what others said about the potato feast being popular in Beijing was a lie. If anyone could make this taste, then who would dislike potatoes?"
Si Li smiled, took Xiao Que's big bowl and mixed half a bowl of mashed potatoes. She left the guidance of the teaching video and relied on her own memory to figure out the proportions of the seasonings. As expected, the note of failed product appeared above the bowl.
Xiao Que still looked at the bowl of mashed potatoes in Wang's hand, Si Li rubbed her forehead, and finally couldn't bear to let her eat this failure. Qing Yu heard Wang's arrival in the courtyard and hurried back. As soon as she stepped into the kitchen, she was caught by Si Li, "We are tired today, Qing Yu, Xiao Que and I are going out to relax. Dinner is ready in advance, remember to heat it up later."
Facing the look from Steward Wang, and thinking of the nod of the steward of the manor that she had been referring to when she was looking for someone to inquire about her job transfer, Qingyu could only step forward, pick up the bowl, and nodded, "Miss, go early and come back early."
The afternoon sun was not so warm when they went out. Si Li walked towards the official road with Xiao Que unconsciously. After lunch, the business of the stalls on both sides of the official road was obviously much lighter. Except for Guangji Temple on the mountain and a few farms around, this place is really a bit far away from the village and the shop. If you hurry a little further, you will reach the capital or Guangji Temple. Few people are willing to eat out when they have no place to stay in the evening. This is human nature.
Looking around, only two or three stalls were still open, but they were packing up and preparing to leave. Si Li walked along the official road to the foot of the mountain, and took a far look at the pool where the original owner fell into the water halfway up the mountain. The maple leaves were layered with deep red, and there was no trace of the despair and horror that made the original owner feel that day.
The waiter in the tile-roofed restaurant at the foot of the mountain came out with a towel on his hand to greet the guests with a smile, "Is this your first time here, young lady? Are you just passing by or going up the mountain? I'm not exaggerating, but the vegetarian dishes in my restaurant are as good as those made by Master Buku on the mountain. If you don't believe me, you'll know after trying them."
Si Li naturally didn't believe the advertisement made by the restaurant's own people. Master Buku's vegetarian dishes were famous in Beijing. It was said that the palace loved them very much. If this restaurant could do the same, wouldn't Master Buku's reputation be in vain? Si Li smiled and waved to leave. Suddenly, she saw a person falling out from the fried tofu stall she had eaten the day before not far away.
As if she had hit her leg, the girl in gray was holding on to the ground for a long time without getting up. The old man Si Li had seen rushed out with a bench, angrily threw the bench next to the girl, and cursed, "If you don't want to do it, don't do it. Who are you trying to scare?! You have no conscience. I don't know what tricks you are up to every day. I saved you with good intentions, but you, the undead star, treat our family like this! Cuicui still needs to eat when she comes back at night. Do you want to tire me to death?"
The bench didn't hit anyone, but the dust splashed all over her face. The girl in gray seemed not to have heard the old man's rude accusation. She stood up silently, holding the stove on the outermost wall, wiped her hands silently, and picked up the kitchen knife again.
"If you're worried about not being able to digest it at night, we have rock candy, hawthorn, gourd and winter melon candy. You can buy some to sweeten your mouth." The waiter said a few words about his own food. Seeing that Si Li didn't respond, he followed her gaze and smacked his lips, "Listen to my advice. Don't worry about it. Old man Huang just has a bad mouth and can't do anything else. But Miss Meng must have hurt her hand when she fell, and she doesn't have the strength to make scholar tofu anymore. It's better to come to our house than to eat at their house."
This was the second time Si Li had heard of the title of Xiucai Doufu. The original owner was young and had not seen many female officials and female students. The most famous one in her memory seemed to be a prefect who died in a mountain accident and was posthumously awarded the title of Grand Scholar five or six years ago. Si Li wanted to ask a few more questions, "But this old man is too mean. Saying things like burying a family is too hurtful."
The waiter shook his head and said, "Miss, you don't know. Miss Meng's family has no one left. She came to the capital from thousands of miles away last year. If it weren't for Old Man Huang saving her with the coffin money, how could she be where she is today? Old Man Huang wanted her to marry his son before, which would be considered adding a relative. Who knew that when they were talking about the marriage, Little Huang got into an accident and became lame. How could he like Miss Meng now?"
As he was talking, another waiter came out of the restaurant and snorted when he heard the conversation, "You talk as if Miss Meng likes him. She is the wife of a scholar and she is hoping to pass the imperial examination in the future. How could she be interested in that lazy widower in his family!"
It turns out that Lady Scholar was not named after Scholar Tofu. In ancient times when there was no compulsory education, taking the imperial examination was not an easy task. Si Li was already a little surprised when he looked at Miss Meng again.
Miss Meng was busy chopping radishes. From a distance, each slice seemed to be the same thickness. She looked like a girl in her teens, but she had passed the imperial examinations and was a good cook. She was really amazing.
Si Li stopped walking towards the restaurant, turned around, took off the Qinglian purse from her waist and handed it to Xiao Que, "Xiao Que, I'll buy you a candied haws, and then we'll go home."
Xiao Que didn't understand why they had agreed to go out together to eat delicious food and she ended up eating alone. She took the purse and followed the waiter into the house. She quickly ran back and handed the crystal red hawthorn ball wrapped in glutinous rice paper to Si Li's mouth, "Miss, eat first."
As she spoke, Si Li was stuffed with a warm oil paper box. "What is this?"
Xiao Que said seriously, "Last time, the young lady took me to eat fried tofu from that restaurant. Today, I will treat the young lady to fried tofu from this restaurant."
Si Li was in a state of confusion, but also a little heartwarming. She was willing to be nice to Xiao Que because Xiao Que saved the original owner, which was equivalent to giving her a chance to survive, and secondly, Xiao Que's strength and obedience were indeed useful to her. She was sincere when she said that she would give Xiao Que a bowl of rice if she had a sip of soup, and she did not expect Xiao Que to repay her. But Xiao Que not only reciprocated, but also made her want to be nicer to Xiao Que.
"Then I won't be polite." Si Li opened the lid of the oil paper box, took out a piece of tofu, and quickly stuffed it into Xiao Que's mouth while she was grinning. "Help me taste it first, and we'll eat the rest when we go back."
“Mmmmm!”
---
The time spent out for a walk is always short. After eating and drinking her fill, Si Li stood in front of the kitchen stove again, full of pride in facing the many potatoes that were still left.
Cut, cut everything, isn’t it just knife skills? If you cut a hundred potatoes, you will always be able to find some feel for it, right?
Qingyu had escaped early, and Xiaoque finally couldn't hold up her eyelids and went to sleep after guarding for two hours. I don't know if it has something to do with the example of Miss Meng I met today, but Si Li felt more and more energetic the more she cut, as if she had caught a little of the rhythm she had felt from the woman in the video.
The sound of the kitchen knife rang all night long. The sky had just brightened and the cold morning mist shrouded the courtyard. The air in the mountains was particularly fresh and pleasant. Si Li put down the kitchen knife and let out a long breath.
Si Li poured the bowl of shredded potatoes she had just cut onto the chopping board and spread them out. Compared to the shredded potatoes of varying sizes that she had cut at the beginning of the night, she could see obvious improvement.
At least there will never be such a difference that some of the same batch are as thick as fingers while others are as thick as bamboo sticks.
Although she had not practiced any of the dishes, Si Li had an inexplicable confidence in her cooking skills based on the shape of the wolf tooth potato strips that were finally judged to be acceptable. She picked up two pieces of firewood and threw them into the earthen stove to make the fire burn. She opened the wolf tooth potato tutorial video in the system panel and followed along, scooping a spoonful of hot oil into the pot.
Before she could move on to the next step, Si Li's heart skipped a beat when she poured the drained wolf-tooth potato strips into the pot.
[System: Warning, get out now! Beep, warning, get out now! ]
Si Li was startled. Just as she retreated to the door of the small kitchen, she saw a fire suddenly burst out in the pot. The flaming oil was splashing everywhere, and the violent crackling sound temporarily covered up the system warning sound.
Qingyu had just woken up and walked out the door when she was frightened by a burst of explosions and hid back in the house. Sparks were everywhere, and she couldn't pretend anymore. She screamed, "What are you doing!"
Oh my God, with the way Si Li is torturing her, she’s going to die if she stays here any longer, right?
Si Li didn't care about her for the moment. She stopped Xiao Que from rushing into the kitchen and tried to recall what she had learned in school about how to put out a fire. "If there is oil, you can't use water to put it out. What should you use? Isolate the air? Or something else?"
The pots and pans in the kitchen made a clanking sound under the impact of oil and flames, which could be heard from far away. The Si family farm was built not far from the official road. The group was just getting off the official road and riding past the farm. When they heard the noise, the guards on both sides quickly drew their swords and warned, "Guard the driver!"
The spies that were sent out quickly returned. Jiang Hengyun sat on his horse, pursed his lips and asked, "Who is it?"
The spy looked strange, and after a long while he stammered, "Yes, someone on the Si Shoufu's manor burned the kitchen."
Now, everyone in the cavalry looked strange. Ning Dynasty had a flourishing food culture. Although not everyone knew how to cook, everyone knew how to light a fire and heat a pot. How could someone actually light up the kitchen?
"Oh?" Jiang Hengyun tapped the whip twice and curled his lips, "Hurry up."
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The author has something to say:
Thank you for your collection and comments, my dears!
As mentioned earlier, the Ning Dynasty had women's schools and imperial examinations, which allowed female officials. It was a private establishment of an imaginary dynasty.